Concern about Fayetteville & surrounding areas (Little Rock, Springdale: apartment complex, crime, lawyer)

[5OfUs]

Hi, my husband is considering applying to law school at the UofA in Fayetteville. We would be moving from central CA and concerned that there may be a huge culture shock. I've be reading some of the postings about crime and gangs and it seems to be there may be some racism issues. I am American of Mexican descent, my husband is caucasian and we have three small children; should we worry about racism? I feel silly even asking that question, being from CA I have never felt discrimnated against, but I know not everywhere is like CA. My parents live in CA, but own an apartment complex in Texarkana and when my dad flies out there, he always has a positive experience. He may even consider buying more property around where my husband goes to school so we can live there; but we want to make sure it will be a good fit for our family. Any and all honest information would be appreciated. I am ultimately concerned about the experience my children will have. I know that there is no perfect place, but racism on a regular basis is not someting I am willing to deal with.

[The A-Team]

Originally Posted by 5OfUs

Hi, my husband is considering applying to law school at the UofA in Fayetteville. We would be moving from central CA and concerned that there may be a huge culture shock. I've be reading some of the postings about crime and gangs and it seems to be there may be some racism issues. I am American of Mexican descent, my husband is caucasian and we have three small children; should we worry about racism? I feel silly even asking that question, being from CA I have never felt discrimnated against, but I know not everywhere is like CA. My parents live in CA, but own an apartment complex in Texarkana and when my dad flies out there, he always has a positive experience. He may even consider buying more property around where my husband goes to school so we can live there; but we want to make sure it will be a good fit for our family. Any and all honest information would be appreciated. I am ultimately concerned about the experience my children will have. I know that there is no perfect place, but racism on a regular basis is not someting I am willing to deal with.

Hi there If you're moving to Fayetteville you shouldn't have a problem. I grew up in Fayetteville and left when i was 18, so i went through all the schools etc. I don't know who is saying there are gang and violence problems, but i never experienced it. I'm not trying to suggest its anyones fault, but since Katrina hit and people relocated from NO, there have been a couple murders(though I'm pretty sure not random acts of violence) and perhaps a little bit more of a bad element. But I have NEVER felt unsafe out and about around Fayetteville at any hour of the night. The only thing that has scared me about being out at night was the cops lol, because they would bother me because I'm young, have hair down to my belt, death metal tshirts, etc and some of them think that means i'll be up to no good(what a dumb reason, i've never been in any sort of trouble with the law, never got in fights at school, etc.) I really don't think racism will be a big issue. FYI there is a large hispanic population in Springdale, so seeing someone of hispanic descent will not be a shock. However, there is also a good amount of illegal immigrants from Mexico, so some people are kind of bitter about that, but it shouldn't be a problem. My dad moved to Fayetteville originally to attend Law school at U of A, and went on to be a very successful corperate Lawyer for Tyson. I've spent time in a lot of central california(Sacramento, passed through fresno, spent a good amount of time in Bakersfield) and while I never really felt unsafe(though there are a good amount of bums in Sac lol) Fayetteville imo feels ALOT more safe. While the public schools aren't anything to write home about lol, the schools in Fayetteville are pretty good, some of the best in the state. I believe Fayetteville is a great place to raise kids, its a growing area but still pretty small, a friendly community(though occasionally you have to deal with the pushy religious person lol) and quite affordable. I hope this helps, and if you have any specific questions feel free to message me!

[5OfUs]

We would be relocating from the Fresno/Clovis area, thanks for the input. Any additional perspectives and experiences are welcome.

[The A-Team]

Originally Posted by 5OfUs

We would be relocating from the Fresno/Clovis area, thanks for the input. Any additional perspectives and experiences are welcome.

No problem hope that helped BTW would you recommend moving to Fresno? I'm kind of partial to Bakersfield and Sacramento, but Fresno is on the list of future places after San Diego.

[5OfUs]

Recommend moving to Fresno? Hmm...what are you looking for in a town? Cost a living is one of the most affordable in CA as you probably already know. I have lived here for ten years and would probably be staying if my husband wasn't going to law school. Unfortunately I am not terribly familiar with Bakersfield or Sacramento, but I imagine that at least Sacramento would have more things to do than Fresno. People in Fresno are pretty friendly, the city on a whole is a good mix of conservatives and liberals. Crime is not a big issue in most parts of the city, especially if you stay north of Shaw Ave. This is not to say that all areas south of Shaw are bad, because that is certainly not the case. Let me know if you are seriously considering Fresno and let me know your specific concerns and I will try and be more helpful.

[nmnita]

FAyetteville is the most diverse part of AR and maybe the most liberal because of the university. I can't imagine you will have any problems. As for gangs, and crime, you are coming from Calif. even though it is the central valley the problems there are a million times worse than anyplace in AR.

Our granddaughter is a senior at the University. She lives with her fiance in FAyetteville, the area they live in is a mixture of college students and those who are not in school, the mentions the tamales the lady on the corner makes and sells daily.

You will find good schools, a lower cost of living than in Fresno, little crime and beautiful lakes and rivers. I think you are worrying about nothing. If you don't make a big deal out of being a Mexican American no one else will.

Good luck,

Nita

[Mulerider93]

I would not worry about your heritage. Like many parts of the U.S., any frustration is centered around illegal immigrants (of any nationality). Arkansas as a whole has a lot of folks from Mexico. IIRC, there is an office of the Mexican Consulate in Little Rock.

--jcd

[Aporkalypse]

There are some specific issues in NWA which are more tied to the nature of the immigrants in the area. Most are illegal immigrants who only recently came to the U.S. and some only live in America seasonally. Most work at Tyson's chicken processing plants which are tedious work at low wages. Since virtually all immigrants are first generation and fairly new to the U.S. you don't find the 2nd and 3rd generation Hispanics you do in places like California and Texas. Most speak Spanish only. I don't think the sentiments you picked up on this board are genuinely racist but are more of the frustrations of a relatively homogenous population seeing a huge shift in demographics with illegal immigrants with little cultural assimilation, I think it's more cultural than anything else. I wouldn't suspect that your husband would experience any difficulty whatsoever as he's culturally not in the same group.

I wouldn't say Fayetteville is as culturally diverse as Little Rock or some other parts of the state but is far more culturally diverse than the rest of NWA. Most importantly it's an idealistically liberal place. I don't think you'd see any discrimination at all in Fayetteville and since I don't live in that portion of the state I'd see myself as relatively unbiased.

I also wouldn't let the comments of a few on this board made about other areas be generalized to NWA as a whole. The comments that you picked up on about gangs, etc are part of a small group that have rivalry issues with other areas like Little Rock. I wouldn't generalize those to think of NWA as a whole, especially Fayetteville, to be a racist place. It's not.

[Mulerider93]

Originally Posted by Aporkalypse

Most are illegal immigrants ... Most work at Tyson's chicken processing plants ...

Careful with the use of the word "most."

There are many, many immigrants from many countries here that work for a lot of different companies at all levels of responsibility.

--jcd

[boulder]

Originally Posted by 5OfUs

Hi, my husband is considering applying to law school at the UofA in Fayetteville. We would be moving from central CA and concerned that there may be a huge culture shock. I've be reading some of the postings about crime and gangs and it seems to be there may be some racism issues. I am American of Mexican descent, my husband is caucasian and we have three small children; should we worry about racism? I feel silly even asking that question, being from CA I have never felt discrimnated against, but I know not everywhere is like CA. My parents live in CA, but own an apartment complex in Texarkana and when my dad flies out there, he always has a positive experience. He may even consider buying more property around where my husband goes to school so we can live there; but we want to make sure it will be a good fit for our family. Any and all honest information would be appreciated. I am ultimately concerned about the experience my children will have. I know that there is no perfect place, but racism on a regular basis is not someting I am willing to deal with.

Fayetteville is a culturally diverse community and I believe you and your family will adapt fine to the area. Growing gang / crime issues are concerns in NWA but activity that is reported seems minimal.

With the world's largest retailer and world's largest protein provider headquartered in the area along with the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville - - NWA has quickly become a melting pot for people from all over the world.

You'll find opinions from many on this board that have never called the NWA area or even Arkansas "home" but once you sift through the inaccurate stuff, you'll realize NWA is not an area racism will be a issue for your family.